Πέμπτη, 20 Αυγούστου 2015

The Orthodox Church in Congo & Gabon & the Orthodox University "St. Athanasius Athonite"

The Holy Archdiocese of Central Africa is a diocese under the jurisdiction of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa. Its territory includes the parishes and missions located in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (the DRC) and the Congolese Republic (Congo-Brazzaville).

History

The Archdiocese of Central Africa was established in 1958 by the Patriarchate of Alexandria with Archbishop Kyprianos as the first ruling hierarch. He was succeeded by Bp. Nicodemus. In 1977, Bp. Timothy (Kontomeros) became the ruling bishop of the missionary activities of the diocese until his repose in 2003.
In 2003, ArchimandriteIgnatios (Madenlidis), who had been a missionary in Kananga for twenty years, was consecrated as the Archbishop of Central Africa. After his resignation in 2010, Archimandrite Nikiforos (Mikragiannanitis) was consecrated on October 24, 2010 and enthroned in the Cathedral Church of St. Nicholas in Kinshasa on December 19, 2010. [1] Ruling Bishops

Since 19th century, Greeks, Russians, Romanians and other Orthodox
Europeans came to Congo to work as staff, businessmen, merchants,
farmers, innkeepers, etc. Very soon the doctor Panayiotis Potogkos in
1872 became the Greek explorer who set foot on Congolese soil and
selflessly offered medical services.After the assembly of Orthodox populations, the Patriarch of
Alexandria founded in 1958 the Archdiocese of Central Africa and Exarch
of the Ecuador (you can view the Patriarchal Tome (in Greek) that
established the Metropolis of Central Africa here),
with Kyprianos as the first Archbishop. Kyprianos was succeeded by
Nicodemus, and he by Timothy Kontomeros in 1977 who worked as a
missionary until his death in 2003.In 2003, His Beatitude Patriarch Petros VII ordained Archimandrite
Ignatios Madenlidis as Archbishop of Central Africa. He worked as a
missionary for about twenty years in Kananga, and resigned in 2010.In October 2010, the Holy Synod of the Church of Alexandria elected
Archimandrite Nikiforos Mikragiannanitis, professor and general academic
secretary of the Orthodox University of Central Africa. He was ordained
a bishop on October 24 in Alexandria by the Pope and Patriarch
Theodoros II, and was enthroned on December 19, 2010 in the Cathedral
Church of St. Nicholas in Kinshasa.Today the jurisdiction of the Holy Archdiocese of Central Africa is
the region of Congo, with the exception of the province of Katanga which
is an autonomous diocese having as bishop His Grace Meletios
Gregoriatis.Within the Archdiocese of Central Africa there are 38 priests, 1
deacon and 3 monks serving. There are 13 community churches and 135
parishes, that provide spiritual guidance to the local Orthodox
population, which consists of Congolese, Greeks, Russians, Romanians and
Orthodox Christians from other nationalities.In 2007, a faculty of Theology "St. Athanasius Athonite" was founded
in the university, in which 78 students are currently enrolled. The
teachers are from Congo, Saint Sergius of Paris, Athens, Thessaloniki
and Strasbourg. Furthermore, courses are delivered electronically
successfully (e-learning).At the expense of the Archdiocese, there are schools that operate
with a large number of local students. (Only in the Central Missionary
of Kananga, the Mission Complex consists of approximately 1000
students).The Holy Metropolis of Central Africa performs multidimensional Orthodox social work.The efforts of the Archdiocese are supported by visiting doctors from
Greece, who volunteer their services to patients without religious
motives.

In the heart of the black continent, where people struggle daily for a
meal and some fresh water, dozens of young people have the opportunity
to pursue a better future by studying at an institution of higher
education with a Greek flavor.We are talking about the University of the Orthodox Church of Congo,
which is a result of efforts by the Holy Metropolis of Central Africa
and provides students with high quality education for free.This unique university in the depths of French-speaking Africa is
located in the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly
Zaire), Kinshasa, and is operating since 2007. For the time being, there
is only one faculty of Orthodox Theology "Saint Athanasios Athonite" [biography here],
but there are plans to introduce three more: information technology,
agriculture and medicine. The license by the Education Ministry of Congo
also allows the creation of veterinary faculty.

"Our goal was to create an orthodox university in french-speaking
Africa, where academic knowledge from the orthodox schools of Europe can
be transferred. Already there orthodox professors teaching from France,
the University of Athens and the University of Thessaloniki. Some teach
through distance learning and others by visiting" said Bishop Nikiforos
of Central Africa.

This effort have been rewarded with considerable success, since, as
he says, the university ranked number eight amongst the higher education
institutions of Congo, and would have ranked second had it not been for
some shortcomings in the library.Bishop Nikiforos also states that the University passed several
inspections by the Ministry of Education, unlike many other private
universities of Kinshasa which were shutdown.Most importantly, he says, is the response of the people that have
embraced the university. "I think the people are very enthusiastic and
very positive towards us," says the Bishop, who notes that the demand is
much greater than the available seats for students. "We have many
applications, but we do not have enough space to accommodate everyone,
as we also offer board."Construction of the University facilities began in 2005 on land
granted by the then President of the Greek Community of Kinshasa
Sofiadis Constantine. The money for the construction came from
individual donations and clubs such as the Orthodox Brotherhood of
Foreign Missionaries of Thessaloniki, the club "Protoklitos" from Patra,
the Missionary Society "Barnabas" from Larissa and the Greek community
in the city.In the center of the complex, designed by the architect and general
patriarchal commissioner of Congo - Brazzaville Archimandrite Theologian
Chryssanthakopoulos, is the Church of Saint Athanasios Athonite, which
was built with expenses of the Holy Monastery of Great Lavra of Mount
Athos. The academic organization of the university was designed by
Bishop Nikiforos, who stresses that he had as models the Theological
School of Halki and Athoniada Ecclesiastical Academy.The establishment of the Theological School was the dream of the late
Bishop Timothy. However, the founder of the university was the
predecessor of Bishop Nikiforos and current Bishop of Pentapolis
Ignatios, who made strenuous efforts to raise money and monitor the
overall progress of the project.In his capacity as Chancellor of the University, Mr. Ignatius spoke
at the "Espresso Sunday" giving some very interesting facts about the
history and operation of the institution.The first thing he notes is that the original intent of the
Archdiocese was to create a Church Academy, but the Congolese Ministry
of Education asked them to name the institution a university, as the
term "Academy" is used to indicate institutions of a higher level than
universities."No problem, we said, and we named it University," says Ignatius. As
for the theological faculty, it was named after Saint Athanasios of
Athos, who was head of the first university in Constantinople and built
the monastery of Great Lavra.Attendance at school is 5 years and the first batch of students will
graduate in the academic year of 2011-2012. "If it were not for some
technical difficulties, the IT and agronomical faculties would be
already functioning, as everything else was ready. Also, the first floor
of the planned medical faculty has already been built. I hope the plans
will be implemented in early 2012. The distant future is in God hands,
"says Ignatius.

FREE SERVICESThe students currently attending the first four years amount to
sixty-three. Their relatively small number isdue to objective
difficulties:These free services cover nutrition, sleeping, clothing, office
stationery, and of course syllabus books. The Bishop added "The
University has adequate dorms for next year, a library, a reading room,
six classrooms, a computer room, offices, a lecture and ceremonies hall,
a radio station, kitchen, a dining room, large garden with flowers and
fruit trees, and a pitch of 30 for 100 yards. "Students follow a rigorous daily schedule that begins at about 6 am.
The taught courses are equivalent to those of the Theological School of
Greece, and also modern and ancient Greek are taught, local dialects of
the Congo, French, civic education, information technology, nursing and
agronomic data, Byzantine music, etc.Along with the lessons, students experience the Orthodox community
tradition, church services, fasting and the Blessed Sacrament. They also
operate the radio station "Voice of Orthodoxy". The publish the journal
"Echo" and produce CDs with Byzantine hymns and psalms.As graduates of an official university, they will be able to teach in
primary and secondary schools, to be employed by the Church, and those
who want and have no obstacles can become priests, "says Ignatius.EXAMPLES TO BE FOLLOWED

When asked what how the Greek Orthodox University is seen in Congo,
the Bishop of Pentapolis responds that the University enjoys the full
respect of the Ministry of Education and by the people."It is no exaggeration to say that among very few institutions, it is
viewed as a supreme example to be followed, especially for the order
and cleanliness it demonstrates, also by many people, judging by the
requests for admittance by young people in our school," he says.It should be noted that in the University, Greek scholars teach such
as Professor Emeritus at the Democritus University of Thrace, Mr.
Nikitas ALIPRANTIS, professors at the University of Athens and Michael
Gregory PAPATHOMAS RALLIS and professor at the Aristotle University of
Thessaloniki Mrs. Niki Papageorgiou.

The Holy Diocese of Katanga, formerly the Diocese of Kolwezi, is a diocese under the jurisdiction of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa. Its territory includes the parishes and missions located in a large area of Katanga in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The Diocese of Kolwezi was established by Patriarchal and Synodal decree on November 1, 2006. On October 9, 2009, the name of the diocese was changed from Kolwezi to Katanga by Patriarchal decree.
Ruling Bishop:Meletios (Kamiloudes) 2006-Present

The Diocese of Brazzaville and Gabon is a diocese under the jurisdiction of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa. The territory of the diocese includes the parishes
and missions located in the nations of Republic of the Congo, also
known as Congo-Brazzaville, and Gabon, officially the Gabonese Republic.
History

In 2004, Archimandrite Theologos (Chrysanthakopoulos) was assigned the responsibility for the mission in Congo Brazzaville which at that time was part of the Archdiocese of Central Africa. The mission was established as the Diocese of Brazzaville and Gabon by a Patriarchal and Synodal Decree on October 7, 2010 by the Holy Synod of the Patriarchate of Alexandria. A diocesan center has been developed in the city of Pointe Noire, where the Churches of St. Dimitrios the Myroblete and Ascension of the Lord have been completed. The Churches of St. Irene and St. Nicholas, as well as the orphanage, “Agios Efstathios”, have been established in the city of Dolisie. In the town of Nkayi the Church of the Transfiguration of the Saviour has also been completed. In Gabon during 2007, then under the jurisdiction of the Archdiocese of Cameroon, a missionary group organized the first community of indigenous Orthodox Christians in the city of Libreville and has initiated the building of the Church of St. Dimitrios.

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